The sky of Subspace was still swirling around as all of the legendary warriors and the Mii Fighters walked up to each other. Few of them were finishing up a Primid or two, involving the Villager sticking his axe into a Primid's back, shove it forward so hard the axe was stuck inside the Primid's body, turning the sharpened blade upward, and slicing it upwards, the Villager watching with an unchanged expression as the Primid's upper half split in two, falling onto the black ground dead. Coated in juices from the Shadow Bugs, Villager put away his axe and ran towards his friends, glad that this is all over.
"We did it," Cloud sighed, pulling his blade out of another minor Subspace Army monster.
"We sure did," Meta Knight panted, placing his golden sword behind his back.
"Way to go," Mario cheered, with the Mii Fighter army walking towards the gathered warriors in victory. Everyone was giving out congratulations to each other, but only Kirby noticed something was up as he watched Sonic simply stand there. The pink puffball walked towards the blue hedgehog, wondering what it was Sonic had on his mind. After a short period of time, Sonic patted Kirby on the head, walking to all the companions in the army.
"Uh, guys?" Sonic asked. The fighters stopped congratulating each other to hear what Sonic was asking everyone.
"If we managed to defeat the Subspace Army, what are we still doing here?" Sonic continued in question. The warriors looked at each other, thinking about what to do now.
"The obvious reason is this, Sonic-a: we haven't defeated-a Tabuu yet," Mario answered, rubbing Sonic on the head. "We're going to have to head to the Judgement Fortress and stop all this. We may have weakened the Subspace Army for now, but I get the feeling it's going to be bigger than when we last attacked." The fighters then stood back a little, cool about the response. One by one, each warrior then ran towards the Judgement Fortress, which was still levitating in the air. However, before any of the troops could make it to the door, the ground began shaking. Each one of the warriors looked up to see the Judgement Fortress breaking apart, each piece of debris disintegrating before they even touched the floor. From the sides of the castle emerged six colossal wings, each one a different color of either blue or red, and both of them had imagery of dancing stars within them. As the last remaining parts of the Judgement Fortress crumbled underneath, each one of the warriors saw a gleaming white orb at where the six wings met.
"Surprise, surprise," the seraph laughed. "It's not over yet. Turns out the battle is still going…"
"Who are you to intrude us in a time like this!?" Ridley hissed, his dragon-like wings outstretched.
"His name is Galeem, Seraph of Order," Tabuu answered, floating up from behind the six-winged being. As Galeem pulled Tabuu closer with the Chains of Light the Construct God was bound in, the fighters and the Mii army did not understand what was going on.
"Look who I found…" Galeem teased in a sing-song voice, tugging on the Chains of Light.
"You imprisoned Tabuu when we were this close to defeating him!?" Fox McCloud snarled.
"Our history goes back in time, to when you didn't even exist," Galeem answered. "Let's just say for now… there really was no Ruins of the Ancients…"
"So it was a trap all along?" Snake asked. "You baited us here!"
"Guess you could say that…" Galeem answered, still holding onto the Chains of Light Tabuu was bound in. With a snap from his glowing white fingers, Galeem managed to shrink the entirety of Subspace down to almost nothingness. The fighters and the Mii army thought there were going to be trapped in there forever since the borders were shrinking fast, but they heard the waves splashing and they felt the sun on their faces once more.
Each one of the warriors looked around, seeing that they were at the exact same location everyone gathered up ten years ago, watching a gleam in the sky replace the area of where the Isle of the Ancients used to be. The black-red cloud covering all of Arcadia vanished, showing the clear sky once more. When the fighters looked up, they saw Galeem, his wings outstretched.
"This situation was made up just to call us all here, isn't it?" Mario yelled. "You used Tabuu to reunite the rejected members of the Subspace Army without even making the Construct God tell the truth!"
"You people are just so… gullible," Galeem chuckled. "What you are about to see is the reawakening of a new empire… with the planet you have been trapped in all along as its center."
"What are you trying to say?" Daisy asked.
"Just watch…" Galeem answered. Spreading his three pairs of wings apart, the Seraph of Order created a magical vortex around himself, and the fighters on the ground could do nothing to stop him.
"Hands of Creation, servants of Gallia, call to my arms, help me rebuild this world," Galeem chanted. With the ground rumbling once more, each one of the fighters and the Mii team watched as the Seraph of Order with Tabuu dragged by the Chains of Light called forth someone unknown. Appearing out of nowhere like starships that have traveled to their destination at light-speed were Master Hands, each one of them surrounding Galeem.
"There's more of them!?" Simon asked, pulling out his Vampire Killer.
"Each planet you live on is guarded by at least one Master Hand, hidden away from the physical forms of these worlds," Galeem answered. "As you can see, I have called them all here just for their eternal service and each of their Core's essence of your downfall…"
"Don't let a single one get away!" Fox exclaimed, pointing his blaster at the Seraph of Order and his Master Hands. Tabuu merely looked away in shame as he knew he was forever a slave of Galeem as long as he was cuffed and shackled in the Chains of Light.
"We'll each need to take down ten," Marth said, pulling out his Falchion.
"Stow your fear!" Zelda replied. "It's now or never!"
"We'll win this," Pit answered. "I know we will!"
"What do you think, Shulk-a?" Mario asked, each member of both the legendary warriors and the Mii Fighter army looking at the Bionis.
"You can see into the future, right?" Mario continued in question. "Tell us what is going to happen…" Shulk then pulled out his Monado Arts, placing the blade on his shoulders. Shulk's eyes gleamed blue as he kept seeing futures of what Galeem has in store for them.
"Listen here, Galeem!" Sonic yelled at the Seraph of Order. "There is no need for violence! If you call off your Master Hand army, we can call this whole thing quits! What is it that makes this planet so special, outside of our imprisonment and creatures of darkness invading? Like creatures of darkness never invade other worlds?"
"My history that ties in with this planet is what makes me complicated," Galeem answered. Once Shulk was finished with the visions he witnessed, the Bionis quickly fainted for Robin to catch him in time. Mario and the rest of the gang managed to run up to Shulk in time, noticing his was sweating.
"What happened?" the Mii Brawler asked, shaking Shulk as he quickly woke up. The Bionis managed to see the ex-Brawler Ultimate Reborn in front of him before wiping his head.
"I looked into the future," Shulk answered. "To see what was going to happen in the upcoming conflict." Each one of the warriors looked at Shulk as he quickly got up and drew his Monado Arts.
"How many did you see?" Corrin said in question.
"Six decillion, forty-eight nonillion, seven hundred-and-forty-two octillion, five hundred-and-seventy-nine septillion, fourteen million, six hundred and five," Shulk answered, standing near the rim of the cliffside while looking at Galeem, the imprisoned Tabuu, and the Master Hands.
"And how many are-a there in which we-a win?" Mario asked. Shulk merely glanced down, sweat dripping down his face as he was quickly panting.
"…One," Shulk answered in a tired voice.
"One?" Sonic asked, confused and angry. "That's impossible. All these futures, and only ONE shows our victory? Unless you mean to tell us that this conflict-"
"Is catastrophic," Shulk interrupted. "No matter what I do, I cannot stop some of these visions. It's up for the future itself to decide what's going to happen…" Each one of the warriors looked at each other, worried about what might happen if they lose. Could it mean simply defeat, or something… greater?
Up there in the sky, Galeem then used his telekinesis ability to shred all the Master Hands around him, gathering up the blue essences of the Cores, absorbing them into his body. As the Seraph of Order was still drawing in magic from the Master Hands, the legendary warriors and the Mii Fighter army were getting ready to finish this, whatever was going to happen.
As the warriors were looking up at the sky, Shulk then suddenly remembered something. How all these alternate realities start. How Galeem was going to create his world. How this could spell doom for everyone he cared about.
"Oh my God," Shulk whispered. "This is how all these futures start…" Every fighter in the resistance army heard the Bionis talking to himself, terror in his eyes as he knew what was going to happen once Galeem has finished absorbing all of the Master Cores.
"Run," Shulk panted. "Don't think about attacking or reflecting his attacks. There's no way you can avoid them…" The fighters were confused by what he was saying, trying to understand what he meant by that order.
"What do you-a mean?" Luigi asked. Galeem then was finished absorbing the Master Cores, transforming into a giant black hole. Shulk then quickly turned around, pulling out his Monado Arts.
"EVERYBODY RUN!" Shulk yelled. With a mighty blast, none of the warriors could react in time as the black hole suddenly shot out giant beams of energy, all curving around to attack every single fighter, including the Miis.
The beams of light were first aiming towards few of the Mii Fighter army, disintegrating them on impact. No matter how fast they ran or how much power was put into their weapons, they could not avoid these deadly things. The ex-Ultimates Reborn noticed their troops seemed like they were being killed off and so tried to defend the fighters escaping.
"Get out of here, and fast!" the Mii Gunner yelled. "We'll hold this guy off for as long as we can!" The second she finished, the Mii Gunner was taken along with the beams of light alongside the Brawler and Swordfighter.
Link was blocking most of the attacks with his Master Sword and Hylian Shield, but there was a huge beam coming towards his direction that he could not avoid. As soon as the beam reached towards him, Ganondorf came in with his big blade and slashed one of the millions of Galeem's beam attacks.
"Ganondorf?" Link asked. Cloud Strife ran in to protect the Hylian as the Gerudian was blocking the beams with his sword.
"Leave with the Champion of Hyrule, human," Ganondorf told Cloud. "I'll stall these things." While Cloud Strife was running off with Link, the Gerudo lord was still attacking before being instantly attacked by one of the beams, disintegrating like the others. Another beam was targeting both Cloud and Link, closing in faster. The Hylian noticed what was going to happen to them and hugged Cloud in fear. The 1st-class SOLDIER would not let the disintegration effect occur to anyone, including himself and Link, so he pulled out his Buster Sword just in time before the beam engulfed both blond-haired swordsmen.
Simon and Richter Belmont tried getting into the Big Blue with Captain Falcon, but they were easily defeated before they could even leave. Isabelle and Villager jumped onto Ridley's back while the Space Pirate was carrying King K. Rool into the air. However, they too were slow enough for the beams to catch them as well. Snake thought the little "hiding in his cardboard box" trick would help, but he was sadly taken by another beam as well. Fox, Falco, and Wolf tried hopping into their starships, but they were either taken before they even lifted off or tried blasting off at the speed of light. No matter what was the case, the three anthropomorphic star pilots were engulfed by beams of light. Zelda teamed up with Mewtwo as soon as she saw Sheik taken, jumping high into the air with the legendary Pokemon, and the two magic wielders attempted on reflecting. However, it sadly had no effect on their abilities as they were attacked by the light beams. When Clementine saw another beam of light heading straight towards her, the Inkling quickly created a puddle of orange ink and hid in there. It apparently had no effect because if she supposedly dies, she's taking the ground with her.
Left and right, troops of the Mii Fighter army were quickly being disintegrated alive, and the legendary warriors of the World of Trophies were attacked as well. The fighters that could pilot ships were engulfed before they even took off, and those that could fly on their own were shortly attacked before fading into dust. Mario was still running away from the black hole shooting the beams of light, but he tripped before he saw another deadly light run towards him. The red plumber suddenly saw his brother Luigi step up in front of him, setting the Poltergust device he had up to maximum overdrive which created a vortex that sucked everything in.
"Keep-a running, Mario!" Luigi spoke as the beam of light was drawing closer. As soon as the energy attack reached the two brothers, a blue blur zipped inbetween Mario and Luigi, taking the red plumber. Mario looked at who was carrying him, and it was apparently Sonic. The red plumber quickly managed to catch a glimpse of his brother Luigi trying to suck the beam of light with his vacuum weapon, but was quickly defeated as it disintegrated him. Once Sonic ran at a safe location from the beams of light, the blue hedgehog let Mario slip off his spiny back as the red plumber quickly sat up.
"What-a do you think you're doing here!?" Mario asked.
"I'm trying to get as many of you guys out of here," Sonic answered. "Didn't you hear Shulk? You can't attack or reflect these things. No matter how hard you try, the only thing you can do to avoid the beams is just run. No questions asked. Just run." Mario looked down on the ground, watching as most of his friends mysteriously disappeared, and those that are surviving were not around for very long. The blue hedgehog helped the red plumber stand up, but Mario placed a hand on Sonic's shoulder.
"You're the one who needs to run," Mario said. "Just run away from here as fast as you can. Don't even look back."
"What!?" Sonic exclaimed. "No! I just reunited with you guys. I can't lose you again!" Mario then placed a hand on the blue hedgehog's cheek, understanding Sonic's pain.
"Just do as I say, Sonic-a," Mario said. The red plumber then pulled out the picture he had hidden in his overalls, handing them to Sonic the Hedgehog. As the blue blur noticed the strange sheet of paper, he quickly made up that it was the picture everyone took at the Midair Stadium ten years ago, long-forgotten by everyone else since it was covered with dust and flaking black corners, and the permanent marker that spelled "Smash Bros. 2008" was slowly fading away.
"That's the photo we took… back during our first victory against the Subspace Army…" Sonic said, his voice starting to break. "Oh, Mario… I completely forgot… I didn't mean-" Mario then placed a finger on Sonic's muzzle, the two starting to show tears in their eyes.
"Don't forget about us," Mario interrupted, closing Sonic's hands with the photograph in them. "Just run. Push me and run…"
"Won't… won't that be betrayal?" Sonic asked.
"It doesn't really matter anymore," Mario answered. "What matters is that you simply run…" Beginning to cry, the blue hedgehog hugged the red plumber, tightening his grasp so that it almost feels like he never wants to let this moment go. The two fighters were still hearing the warlike cries and screams of the other warriors, with another one of Galeem's beams of light heading straight towards them.
"Goodbye again," Sonic wept as Mario planted a small kiss on the top of the blue hedgehog's forehead. Through an act of safety, Sonic pushed Mario off the safe zone into the beam of light, quickly running in tears as he didn't even get the chance to see the red plumber disintegrate. As the blue hedgehog was running, he saw all of the good friends he made suddenly engulfed in the beams of light, Mii Fighter troops and all. Not even the Legacy and all of the other ships in the distance could stop Galeem's attack as they exploded on impact by the beams of light while firing away at the vortex. Kirby managed to create a Warp Star out of thin air with the same ability as with what he used to make the Star Allies Sparkler, serving as a fast means of transportation. The pink puffball piloted the Warp Star as fast as he could, lowering it to the ground so that Meta Knight and King Dedede could jump on from a rocky thumb protruding out of the rocky dirt.
"Kirby, think fast!" Meta Knight called out while holding King Dedede's hand. The pink puffball tried moving the Warp Star closer to the two Dream Friends. However, before Meta Knight and King Dedede even touched Kirby's stubby hand, they were engulfed by a beam of light, disintegrating as Kirby piloted the Warp Star faster away from the warzone, looks of fear on his cuddly face. Sonic the Hedgehog ran next to Kirby in time, jumping onto the Warp Star so that the two could escape.
"Keep going!" Sonic ordered Kirby. The pink puffball nodded, putting more of the love energy into the Warp Star he created. The blue hedgehog then noticed Pit and Dark Pit flying next to the Warp Star, both angels being powered by Palutena's Gift of Flight.
"Nice going, Pit-stain!" Dark Pit snarled. "'We'll win this. I know we will.' How stupid are you!?"
"I didn't know what was going to happen, Pittoo!" Pit cried. "Besides, if anything were to happen to Lady Palutena as she's guiding us out of here, we're done for!"
"Get on, guys!" Sonic called out to the two angels. "Quit arguing and let's go!" Both Pit and his doppelganger were just about to grab onto the Warp Star, but Palutena was engulfed by another beam of light like all the others. Once the two angels felt the Gift of Flight in their wings was gone, they were falling to their death, trying to reach for Sonic as they disintegrated as well. The beam that attacked Pit and Dark Pit was close to the Warp Star as well, so Sonic and Kirby were trying to hold on as they were sent tumbling. The pink puffball managed to keep the Warp Star moving, but both fighters were so close to the ground that the Warp Star was screeching as its behind was scratching the cliffside stone. Not only that, but behind the two warriors was another beam of light heading straight towards them, and right in front of them was a 300-foot drop of death that the fighters forgot to check ten years ago before they left, and water was surrounding the entire island the cliffside was shown on.
"I don't think there's really a choice here since the Warp Star can't carry the both of us, Kirby," Sonic said to the pink puffball, knowing that they were too heavy to be supported by the Warp Star now. "We slow down, we both die. We keep going any faster, we both die. There's nothing we can do unless…" The blue hedgehog suddenly came to the only conclusion that he was about to make.
"…Unless one of us gets off first…" Sonic then looked to his right, watching as Kirby was anticipated to get the both of them off. The blue hedgehog then slowly moved closer to the pink puffball. When Kirby felt the blue hedgehog rub the back of his round body, the pink puffball looked at Sonic with black-and-blue eyes.
"Kirby?" Sonic asked, watching as the beam of light was approaching closer to them.
"Kirby, there's something I need to do for your safety," Sonic said.
"Poyo?" Kirby asked gently as the Warp Star was moving closer to the deadly drop.
"I need you to get out of here as quickly as possible," Sonic answered.
"Poyo-poyo?" Kirby asked. Sonic then placed his gloved hand on Kirby's stubby arm.
"Don't worry about me," Sonic answered. "Your safety matters much more to me than even my own memories. There is also a riddle spoken to me, and I want you to remember it: Warrior untouched by the birth of Gallia, awaken the Ragnarokk's memories, redeliver the World of Trophies, and break the Lock. Remember this message, okay? It might help in the future..." The beam of light was approaching closer to the two fighters, the Warp Star losing more energy the faster it went. Sonic then handed Kirby the picture that was given to the blue hedgehog a minute before Mario supposedly died.
"…Poyo?" Kirby asked, confused by what was happening.
"Whatever you do, don't lose the memories we had together… not as friends, but as family," Sonic wept, tears building up in his eyes. Kirby took a good look at the picture that was given to him, and the pink puffball looked at the blue hedgehog in confusion and watery eyes.
"Poyo-po?" Kirby asked, his adorable voice breaking. Sonic then hugged the pink puffball, sobbing into Kirby's pillow-like body. The beam of light drew in closer, and so did the death drop. The Warp Star slowed down enough for Sonic to jump off while still holding on from the back. As Kirby held onto the photograph, he looked behind to see Sonic the Hedgehog, the only fighter that had survived ten years without losing his memories to a trophy transformation, sacrificing his life for the pink puffball.
"Godspeed, you little curbstomper," Sonic whispered, a river of tears flowing from his conjoined eyes as he placed his feet on the ground, keeping up with the speed of the Warp Star.
"Poyo!" Kirby cried. Sonic then picked up the Warp Star from behind, running as fast as he could from the beam of light that was targeting the two fighters. To the blue hedgehog, it seemed like he managed to slow down the beam heading straight towards them with Kirby hanging on. With one last feat of strength, Sonic stopped instantly at the rim of the death drop, throwing the Warp Star out of sight with Kirby in it. The beam of light went above the blue hedgehog as it attempted to catch up to the pink puffball.
"I know you can save us all," Sonic wept quietly, standing on the rim of the 300-foot drop, his arms folded across his chest. He saw Kirby with the photograph the blue hedgehog gave him simply fly off into the sky faster than the speed of light. Pikachu hopped towards Sonic, battered and bruised while trying to avoid the beams. Once the mouse-like Pokémon turned his head towards the blue hedgehog, Pikachu tried giving off the cutest smile he had on, even though times were bad. However, Sonic mainly looked down on Pikachu, streams of tears running down his face as he clenched his teeth, giving sign to the Pokémon that there is no hope to escape from Galeem for the rest of the fighters and the Mii army. With the sadness spreading to Pikachu, beads of water built up in the Pokémon's face as the rim of his mouth trembled.
"Pika-pi…" Pikachu wept. The blue hedgehog then knelt down, opening his arms a bit to let the Pokémon cuddle into him. Without anything to do, Pikachu ran towards Sonic, knowing his love for smaller animals shined through him. As the two tightly hugged each other, Pikachu cried into Sonic's shoulder, with the blue blur silently hiccuping as he tried to hold back his tears. Up there, in the sky still holding onto the Warp Star and the photograph taken ten years ago, the last thing Kirby saw was Sonic hugging Pikachu in a caring manner, the two shutting their eyes as tears dripped down their face before another beam of light engulfed the two warriors, disintegrating them on impact. One more beam was heading straight towards Kirby, about to reach the pink puffball, but the power of love was so great in Kirby that it powered the Warp Star up to max, causing the young Star Warrior and the transportation device explode into smaller stars that vanished a few seconds later before the beam managed to catch up to them.
As the only remaining legendary warriors and the Mii Fighter troops were caught in Galeem's blasts, the beams of light then shot up across the sky, engulfing the planet before spreading across the solar system Arcadia was located in. Once all of the other planets surrounding their sun were caught in Galeem's attack, the beams of light then quickly spread to other stars and worlds. Afterwards, the whole galaxy that Arcadia was identified to reside in was engulfed in one massive explosion of light, following up with all of the clusters and superclusters in space, spreading across all of the other universes in existence. During that time, all of the people that weren't made into fighters were engulfed as well, transforming into the Spirits. Afterwards, the whole multiverse was covered in light, instantly shrinking down until there was nothing… but the silent, black death of space.
